Role in the network: The Novartis spinout that failed its anti-aging drug trial, pivoted to testing the same failed drug on elderly nursing home residents during COVID through Sam Altman’s Project Covalence platform, signed its own dissolution agreement before the study launched, announced a federal grant 49 days before ceasing to exist, and left ~550 nursing home patients’ data unpublished while its shareholders retained financial rights to the drug’s future commercialization.
Bio
resTORbio, Inc. was a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing medicines that target the biology of aging. It was formed in 2016 as a subsidiary of PureTech Health (LSE: PRTC), which licensed two clinical-stage drug programs from Novartis and put approximately $15 million toward the effort in exchange for a 58% ownership stake. Novartis retained a minority stake and was eligible for milestone payments and royalties. The company traded on NASDAQ under the ticker TORC. [1] [2] [3]
The company was co-founded by:
- Chen Schor (CEO) — previously at Teva Pharmaceuticals
- Joan Mannick, M.D. (Chief Medical Officer) — previously Executive Director of the New Indications Discovery Unit at Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research (NIBR), where she led the clinical TORC1 program that resTORbio licensed. Prior to Novartis, she was a Medical Director at Genzyme and faculty at Harvard Medical School and UMass Medical School. [1] [3] [4]
- PureTech Health LLC — the parent company
The drug — RTB-101 — was a potent, orally-administered TORC1 (target of rapamycin complex 1) inhibitor. TORC1 inhibition has been shown in preclinical models to extend lifespan, enhance immune function in the elderly, and improve function of multiple aging organ systems. The patent portfolio was licensed from Novartis International Pharmaceutical Ltd. [1] [2]
The Rise and Fall
Phase 2b Success (July 2018)
RTB-101 showed a statistically significant 30.6% reduction in respiratory tract infections (RTIs) in elderly patients (65+) in a Phase 2b dose-ranging study. resTORbio’s stock surged 69% on the news. The company had made its NASDAQ debut months earlier. [5]
Phase 3 Failure (December 2019)
The Phase 3 trial of RTB-101 for preventing clinically symptomatic respiratory illness in the elderly did not meet its primary endpoint. The stock collapsed. The drug that was supposed to protect elderly people from respiratory infections had failed to do so — the same month COVID-19 emerged in Wuhan. [2] [6]
COVID Pivot (Spring 2020)
Despite having just failed for respiratory illness in the elderly, RTB-101 was repurposed as a COVID-19 prophylaxis — for the exact same indication (respiratory illness in elderly patients) it had just failed for. The pivot was routed through Project Covalence, Sam Altman’s COVID clinical trial platform operated by TrialSpark. [6]
Merger Agreement (April 28, 2020)
resTORbio’s board signed a merger agreement with Adicet Bio — a cancer immunotherapy company with no aging or COVID program. The merger was structured as a reverse merger: Adicet would become a wholly-owned subsidiary of resTORbio, which would then rename itself Adicet Bio and change its mission entirely. [7]
This agreement was signed BEFORE:
- The nursing home trial was registered (May 28, 2020)
- Project Covalence launched (June 16, 2020)
- The NIA grant was announced (July 28, 2020)
- Any nursing home resident was enrolled (July 11, 2020)
NIA Grant and Coordinated Announcements (July 28, 2020)
Two same-day press releases: resTORbio announces an NIA (National Institute on Aging) grant for RTB-101 COVID prophylaxis in nursing homes. TrialSpark announces the Covalence/resTORbio collaboration. Same drug. Same day. Coordinated to create momentum for a company that had signed its own dissolution 91 days earlier. [6]
WeissLaw Investigation (June 29, 2020)
WeissLaw LLP announced a shareholder investigation into resTORbio’s board of directors regarding potential breaches of fiduciary duty in connection with the Adicet merger. The investigation examined whether the board acted in the best interests of shareholders. [6]
Dissolution (September 15, 2020)
The merger completed. resTORbio ceased to exist. The ticker changed from TORC to ACET. The mission changed from “targeting the biology of aging” to “allogeneic gamma delta T cell therapies for cancer.” [7]
The CVR
Each resTORbio shareholder received a Contingent Value Right (CVR) — entitling them to “substantially all of the net proceeds from the commercialization, if any, received from a third party commercial partner of RTB101” for a COVID-19 indication. The nursing home study wasn’t just humanitarian — positive results could trigger payments to shareholders of the dissolving company. [7]
The NIBR Network
The Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research (NIBR) connection runs deep through the investigation:
| Person | NIBR Role | resTORbio Role | Post-resTORbio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joan Mannick | Executive Director, New Indications Discovery Unit | Co-founder, CMO | Left before merger |
| Lloyd Klickstein | NIBR researcher | CSO | Adicet Bio board member (appointed Aug 2024) |
| Chen Schor | — | CEO | Became CEO of combined Adicet Bio |
Paul Hudson — who became Sanofi’s CEO in September 2019 (the same month the 23andMe/TrialSpark partnership was announced) — was previously CEO of Novartis Pharmaceuticals. Novartis is the company that developed RTB-101 and spun it into resTORbio. Hudson ran the Novartis division that included NIBR before moving to Sanofi, which later invested in Formation Bio (formerly TrialSpark) and co-developed Muse with OpenAI. [8]
The Retro Biosciences Echo
Sam Altman invested $180 million in Retro Biosciences — a longevity company targeting the same aging biology as resTORbio:
| Dimension | resTORbio | Retro Biosciences |
|---|---|---|
| Target | TORC1 (aging pathway) | Autophagy (aging pathway) |
| Population | Elderly, nursing homes | Alzheimer’s, neurodegeneration |
| Funder | PureTech Health, Novartis | Sam Altman ($180M personal) |
| Connection to Altman | Project Covalence platform | Direct personal investment |
| Trial location | US nursing homes | Australia (“regulations more flexible”) |
| Microglia overlap | — | Retro targets microglia; Sanofi acquired Vigil ($470M) for microglia |
| Outcome | Drug failed. Company dissolved. Results buried. | Phase 1 ongoing. Data expected Aug 2026. |
The first attempt at anti-aging therapeutics for elderly patients failed and was buried through a merger. The second attempt moved offshore. Same therapeutic area. Same target population. Same funder’s network. Different country. [6]
Clinical Trial Record
NCT04409327 — ClinicalTrials.gov: [9]
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Sponsor | Restorbio Inc. |
| Status | TERMINATED |
| Reason | “Insufficient accrual rate” |
| Start | July 11, 2020 |
| Primary Completion | December 27, 2020 |
| Completion | January 24, 2021 |
| Population | Adults 65+ in nursing homes with COVID exposure |
| Consent | “From the subject or health care proxy“ |
| Results | Submitted to journal. Bounced. Never resubmitted. |
Nodes and Open Questions
- NIA grant disclosure: Did the NIA grant application disclose the pending merger (signed April 28, 2020)? If not, the federal government funded a study whose institutional framework was contractually committed to dissolution.
- Joan Mannick’s trajectory: She left Novartis to co-found resTORbio. What did she do after the merger? Did she join Retro Biosciences or another longevity company? The CMO who led the drug program from Novartis through failure and dissolution is a key witness to what happened.
- PureTech Health’s role: As 58% owner, PureTech approved the merger. What was PureTech’s position on the COVID pivot? Did PureTech benefit from the CVR structure?
- The CVR today: Have any commercialization proceeds been triggered for RTB-101? If no third-party partner has licensed the drug for COVID, the CVR is worthless — meaning the nursing home study generated zero financial return for anyone while exposing elderly patients to experimental treatment.
- Novartis royalties: Novartis retained milestone payments and royalties. Does Novartis still hold rights related to RTB-101? When Adicet Bio inherited the obligations, did Novartis’s interest transfer?
Sources
[1] [Archive] (https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170413005308/en/resTORbio-Appoints-Joan-Mannick-M.D.-Chief-Medical)
[2] [Archive] (https://cen.acs.org/articles/95/i14/PureTech-Novartis-create-resTORbio.html)
[3] [Archive] (https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1720580/000119312517383712/d475892ds1.htm)
[4] [Archive] (https://www.peoplebehindthescience.com/dr-joan-mannick/)
[5] [Archive] (https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/restorbio-surges-as-mid-stage-data-set-up-phase-3-for-aging-drug)
[6] Prior investigation sessions — Project Covalence, NIA grant, merger timeline, Klickstein career
[7] [Archive] (https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0001720580/000119312520259936/d48006d8k.htm)
[8] [Archive] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Hudson_(businessman))
[9] [Archive] (https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT04409327)